A pair of Gr-I's highlight the racing weekend in the US this week, starting with the Eddie Read Handicap, for 4yo+ at 1-1/8m over the turf at Del Mar park in California. Looking to take them from gate to wire will be the speedy Monterrey Jazz, just three weeks after smoking the field in the Gr-II American (below). 

But pressing him early should be multiple Gr-I winner Thorn Song, who will need to be at his best as he has only won 1 of his last 5, although that was the Gr-I Shoemaker Mile, and has not won at over a mile since Nov '07.  But should those two burn themselves out in front, Artiste Royale will be closing strong and looking to break a 4-race losing streak after his win in the Gr-II San Marcos back in January, although he's been second or third in his last three... The race should be decided early, and will revolve around how easily a lead Monterrey Jazz can get.  If he is allowed to set the pace at his leisure, it will be over quick.  But if a hot pace and battle ensue, Artiste' might be passing them all down the stretch.

Last year's suprise win was the first and only graded win for Monzante, who only won 4 times in his career.  He finished 5^th in his one race afterwards and has since been retired.

Moving on to the Gr-I Coaching Club American Oaks for 3yo fillies over 1-1/4m at Belmont Park, where a group of lightly raced fillies will be looking for their biggest win to date... and their owners thrilled that Rachel Alexandra is nowhere in sight as she prepares for the Haskell next week...   The most accomplished of the bunch is multiple Gr-III winner Hightap, most recently the winner of the Gr-III Iowa Oaks and 4 of 5 in 2009.  But keep an eye out both for Livin Lovin, in the top 2 in 4 of 5 starts and winner a Gr-III winner at 2yo, and Gr-III Florida Oaks winner Don't Forget Gil, in the top 3 in 7 of 8 races... Hard to gage with such young fillies, but Hightap looks hard to beat and her closing style should thrive in this distance.

Music Note won this race in 2008, one of three Gr-I wins last year and a nod as an Eclipse Award finalist.  She finished fifth in the Gr-I Ogden Phipps last month after an almost 8 month layoff.

There is also the Gr-I King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes in England on Saturday.  Breeders Cup Turf winner Conduit is the early favorite, and is coming off a game third in the Gr-I Coral Eclipse Stakes and looking for his first win in '09, and will clash with stablemate Tartan Bearer, who was just nipped near the wire in the Gr-I Prince of Wales, as well as '08 Gr-I Irish Derby winner Frozen Fire, making his first start in 9+ months since his lackluster effort in last year's English St. Leger... which was won by Conduit... and Gr-I Coronation Cup surprise winner Ask, out to prove that win was no fluke... yet we'll believe it when we see it. And for no particular reason, we like Tartan Bearer to take the lead within the final couple of furlongs and finally land the big one. 

This race was won last year by Duke of Marmalade, one of his four Gr-I's in '08, on his way to European Older Horse Champion honors.

So that's it for this week, so enjoy and see you at the races.

With the Mets Spring Training Split Squad team's season spiraling out of control... blanked by the Nationals last night.  Yes, those Nationals...

...ToTT begins to look ahead to happier times, the NFL season, and the start of training camp.  For the defendng NFC East champ New York Giants, workouts begin on August 3, a mere week and a half from now.

Now for the most part, the team is deep at every position and there are almost no major positional battles save for two.  The first one, which was one of the NYG weak areas last year is OLB, where former Falcon Michael Boley (below) was expected to step in as a starter but was not only injured and now in the middle of an 8-10 week recovery, but he also has been suspended for the first game of the season. 

So the starter role is down to a duel between perenially injured Gerris Wilkinson... no relation to Kendra we believe, but we'll post a picture of her just in case...

...and second year man Bryan Kehl... As LB was probably the Giants weakest spot this year, it will be critical to have consistant performance for the team to avoid the late season slump last year.  But with arguably the best D-Line in the NFL, the LB's might have things a bit easier this year.

On the other side of the field, there is another minor battle as incumbent Danny Clark will try to fend off rookie second rounder Clint Sintim (#97 below). 

Clark had a solid, yet unspectacular season and should continue to be the starter, but will have more pressure to perform.

Now the biggest and most important battle and team issue is at Wide Receiver, and who will play what role.  With both of last year's starters, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, gone, backup and new personnel will be looked at to move to starring roles.  On paper, Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith are now the starters but that is by no means etched in stone.  Hixon made some big plays last year, and Smith alway seemed to be there when Manning needed a big completion, but neither seems like your traditional #1 receiver. 

Pushing them will be a team high on talent but with a lot to prove... Returning WRs Sinorice Moss (training camp wonder, injury list frequenter), and Mario Manningham (past attitude question, not much playing time in '08) and rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden (both below in same order). 

It is these last two that will garner the most attention and expectation.  Nicks, this year's first round picks, is labeled as "Michael Irvin - like" ... hopefully in talent and not the fondness for 'illicit' substances... while Barden was a touchdown machine in college, granted against mediocre competition.  Both are big, 6'1" and 6'6", and the (unrealistic?) hope is that they'll be the kind of red zone targets that Buress used to be.

Now every year, there seems to be a WR or two that bursts into the scene as a rookie and sets the league on fire.  And we do mean 1 or 2 out of dozens drafted, so the odds that 1 or 2 in the same team will be the talk of the town during their first year is unlikely.  Yet we will keep our fingers crossed and hope the trend is bucked.

On item of concern though is that Nicks, Barden and Sintim are the only rookies yet to sign.  And as history shows, once a rookie has lost camp time, it is almost impossible for him to catch up in time to make a significant contribution that season.  Here's hoping all are in the fold in the next 10 days.

In any case, this season holds a lot of promise for the NYG and a lot is expected.  Anything less than an NFC East crown and deep run into the playoffs will be viewed as a dissapointment.  So with that, we look forward to August 3rd and the start of training camp... which will again be way to long though... because watching baseball now is just painful... Although with a few more stories like this, as reported by Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News today, maybe things will get more interesting after all...

The Binghamtom Mets clubhouse nearly turned into a scene out of WWE Raw recently, when VP for player development Tony Bernazard  removed his shirt and challenged the Double-A players to a fight during a postgame tirade, multiples sources told the Daily News.

Bernazard particularly went after middle infield prospect Jose Coronado using a slang term associated with a woman's anatomy, a source indicated. The confrontation happened about 10days before the All-Star break

A pair of horses punched their ticket to the Breeders Cup this weekend, starting with Swift Temper, who took the early lead and never gave it back in the Gr-II Delaware Handicap, first withstanding early pressure from Acoma, then leaving behind a stretch challenge from Unbridled Belle for the surprisingly easy win.

The win was just her fifth in 27 career starts, of which only one had been graded.  But the big purse took her earnings over the $1M mark. The win secures a spot for her in the BC Ladies Classic.

Next up was the ungraded Greenwood Cup, where Brazilian import Alcomo came from off the pace to overtake odds-on favorite Nite Light at the quarter pole then win under an easy hand ride by almost 2+. 

The win was his first in 4 US starts this year after a multiple graded stakes winning career in his native Brazil.  The win sets him up for the BC Marathon.

Stay tuned for a preview of next weekend's action, featuring the Gr-I's Eddie Read and Coaching Club American Oaks, as well as the England's Gr-I King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which we incorrectly stated was going to be run this past Saturday.

It was another typically atrocious week for the NYM Spring Training Split Squad Team* ... * ToTT copyright pending... as they were repeatedly spanked by the Atlanta Braves, going 1-3... thanks Mr. Santana... Thankfully, the All Star Break prevented their record from being worse than it could have been. 

As for the lowlights:

- NYM STSS scored four runs in their three losses

- The NYM STSS can't hit... and boy, do they stink

- The voodoo doll also came out firing on all cylinders after the Break, narrowly missing fully taking out Gary Sheffield yesterday... reportedly only out with a leg cramp, yet missing today's game... then picking off Fernando Nieve on his way to first in the second inning... he seemed to be in a lot of pain and had to be carted out.  Looked pretty bad.  Tough break for what had been one of the feel good stories in the team this year.  Here's wishing for a fast recovery

- Who amongst you was surprised when Tim Redding gave up a HR to the first hitter he faced once he came in for Nieve?

The Mets STSS freefall continues unabaited, and the team now stands at 43-48, 9 games back in 4th place in the NL East, and 7 back in the wildcard behind eight other teams.  The only positive news is that the worst team in the NL is next on tap for a three game series.

We had kept hoping that the NYM STSS would hang around close enough until cavalry came off of the DL for one final push, but the slide that began in June is all out now and as we pointed out a couple of weeks ago, the team as it stands right now cannot compete with the upper half of the NL... The team has too many holes and nothing short of the infusion of 4 - 5 new players... or currently injured players... at once will be able to change that.

The deficit is slowly approaching the unsormountable mark and the season is precariously close to being over... Then again only a sucker...ie life long fan... would say its not, but leave us our delusions for now.  The 2007 Rockies proved its never over until its over... But stay tuned, because the curtain might come down a lot sooner than all of us expected.

 No major stakes this weekend at home, but a pair of Breeders Cup spots are up for grabs this Saturday. 

We start things off with the Gr-II Delaware Handicap, where the winner will ear a place in the BC Ladies Classic.  Leading the field are multiple stakes winner Acoma the recent winner of the Gr-III Mint Julep Stakes (above),  and of 2 of 3 in '09, and Unbridled Belle, the winner of the 2007 Delaware Handicap in and the Gr-III Obeah Stakes last out in her second start in '09 following a 7 month layoff... Super filly Rachel Alexandra was entered in the race, but was pulled prior to final declarations, and will instead take another shot at the colts in the Gr-I Haskell in just over two weeks.  That race will also feature Gr-I Belmont winner Summer Bird and Gr-II Arkansas winner Papa Clem, so it should be a really good one..

The talented Hystericalady won this race 2008, a multiple graded winner winner of $2.4M, and who went to dead heat for fourth in the BC Ladies Classic that year.  She is now retired.

Next up is the Greenwood Cup and a spot in the second running of the BC Marathon.  The top choices appear to be Eldaafer and Nite Light, who most recently finished noses apart in the Gr-II Brooklyn Handicap, where the former came out on top by a nose.  Eldaafer's 3 of 5 career wins have been on muddy tracks, while Nite Light has finished in the top 2 in 10 of 12 career starts, although has yet to score a graded win.  If rain does not show, maybe the tables will be turned.

This race was made a BC Challenge last year after not being run for 2 years and was won by 10yo Evening Attire, a former Gr-I winner and earner of almost $3M, while setting a track record in the process.  That race would be his last, as he was retired with an injury ahead of the Breeders Cup.

Finally, French-raced Cavalryman came from midpack to storm pass the leaders deep in the stretch and pull away for a comfortable 1-1/2 length win the Gr-I Grand Prix de Paris yesterday.  The win was his first graded stakes win... Not much impact to the division, although in typical fashion Euro bookmakers and reporters are already talking about Cavalryman's expected mix in the Arc... bit too early.

And speaking of Europe, the Gr-I King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes will be run Saturday at England's Ascot racecourse.  Breeders Cup Turf winner Conduit is the early favorite, and is coming off a game third in the Gr-I Coral Eclipse Stakes and looking for his first win in '09, and will clash with stablemate Tartan Bearer, who was just nipped near the wire in the Gr-I Prince of Wales, as well as '08 Gr-I Irish Derby winner Frozen Fire, making his first start in 9+ months since his lackluster effort in last year's English St. Leger... which was won by Conduit.

This race was won last year by Duke of Marmalade, one of his four Gr-I's in '08, on his way to European Older Horse Champion honors.